Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
is open daily from 9am to 5pm.
Camel Rock Casino
(
&
505/984-8414;
www.camel
rockcasino.com) is open Sunday to Wednesday from 8am to 4am, and Thursday to
Saturday for 24 hours; it has a snack bar on the premises.
191
SAN ILDEFONSO PUEBLO
Pox Oge,
as San Ildefonso Pueblo is called in its own Tewa language, means “place where
the water cuts down through,” possibly so-named because of the way the Rio Grande cuts
through the mountains nearby. Turn left on NM 502 at Pojoaque, and drive about 6
miles to the turnoff. This pueblo has a broad, dusty plaza, with a kiva on one side,
ancient dwellings on the other, and a church at the far end. It's nationally famous for its
matte-finish, black-on-black pottery, developed by tribeswoman María Martinez in the
1920s. One of the most visited pueblos in northern New Mexico, San Ildefonso (pop.
1,524) attracts more than 20,000 visitors a year.
The San Ildefonsos could best be described as rebellious because this was one of the
last pueblos to succumb to the reconquest spearheaded by Don Diego de Vargas in 1692.
Within view of the pueblo is the volcanic Black Mesa, a symbol of the San Ildefonso
people's strength. Through the years, each time San Ildefonso felt itself threatened by
enemy forces, the residents, along with members of other pueblos, would hide out up on
the butte, returning to the valley only when starvation set in. Today, a visit to the pueblo
is valuable mainly in order to see or buy rich black pottery. A few shops surround the
plaza, and there's the
San Ildefonso Pueblo Museum
tucked away in the governor's
office beyond the plaza. I especially recommend visiting during ceremonial days.
San
Ildefonso Feast Day,
on January 23, features the buffalo and Comanche dances in alter-
nate years.
Corn dances,
held in late August or early September, commemorate a basic
element in pueblo life, the importance of fertility in all creatures—humans as well as
animals—and plants.
The pueblo has a 4
1
/
2
-acre fishing lake that is surrounded by bosk (or
bosque,
which is
Spanish for “forest”), open April to October. Picnicking is encouraged, though you may
want to look at the sites before you decide to stay; some are nicer than others. Camping
is not allowed.
The pueblo's address is Route 5, Box 315A, Santa Fe, NM 87506 (
&
505/455-3549
).
The admission charge is $5 per car. The charge for taking photographs is $10; you'll pay
$20 to film and $25 to sketch. If you plan to fish, the charge is $10 for adults and $5 for
seniors and children 11 and under, but you'll want to call to be sure the lake is open. The
pueblo is open daily in the summer from 8am to 5pm; call for weekend hours. In the
winter, it's open Monday to Friday from 8am to 4:30pm. It's closed for major holidays
and tribal events.
7
OHKAY OWINGE
SAN JUAN PUEBLO
If you continue north on US 84/285, you will reach San Juan Pueblo, now renamed in
Tewa language Ohkay Owinge, via NM 74, a mile off NM 68, about 4 miles north of
Española.
The largest (pop. 6,748) and northernmost of the Tewa-speaking pueblos, and head-
quarters of the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council, San Juan is on the east side
of the Rio Grande—opposite the 1598 site of San Gabriel, the first Spanish settle-
ment west of the Mississippi River and the first capital of New Spain. In 1598, the Span-
ish, impressed with the openness and helpfulness of the people of San Juan, decided to
